Tag: memories

Wedding Decoration Deals!

jpalinphotography

It’s no surprise that weddings can be very expensive, but they don’t have to be. I bargain shopped for our wedding decorations and it made a huge difference. Now is the time to shop those deals too!

  1. Holiday Lights – These will be going on a MAJOR sale after the holidays. Any extra strands of lights that are on the shelves I’ve seen be as low as $0.50!! Just remember to get those LEDs (I’ll explain in later blogs!)
  2. Discount Party Sites – If you watch Oriental Trading or other party sites and create an account, they will usually send you a discount for signing up or send you their promotional flyers. Be patient and wait for those deals!
  3. Add Items to Your Cart – I try to be slightly tricky when I’m shopping for decorations. I’ll add whatever it is to my cart and sit on it for around 1-2 weeks. Usually in that timeframe (if I have an account created) the site will send me discount code to get me to actually purchase that item! Shutterfly is notorious for this! This just makes ordering prints or photo decorations for your big day that much cheaper!
  4. Wait for a Holiday – You probably missed that big Black Friday events, but don’t fret, the big box stores always have MASSIVE deals around every holiday. JoAnne’s and Michaels especially have coupons that come out during the holidays! Wait until right before any holiday and I guarantee some coupon will hit your inbox.
  5. Use Coupons – This sounds like a no brainer, but wait for those coupons. I know a lot of the craft stores send out weekly coupons or their item of the week that will be discounted. Be patient and score that deal!

Don’t break the bank on your wedding decorations. Try some DIY, use those coupons, and look for those killer deals! Above all else, enjoy and have fun with this process!

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Top 10 Things to do When You Get Engaged!

jpalinphotography

Hi there! Did you just get engaged? Are you confused on where to start? What to do next? Is your family BOMBARDING you with a million questions?

Well let’s take you through my Top 10 things to do when you get engaged to hopefully set you on the right path to an easy, stress free, and enjoyable wedding planning journey!

  1. ENJOY! – Seriously, just enjoy this time! Tell the Nosey Aunt that she’ll get an invite (if you want to invite her) and that you and your fiancé are enjoying being engaged.
  2. Pick a season you want to get married in – I’m not saying pick your date, let’s start broad and work our way down to solidifying a date. Pick a 3 month span that you love. I’m talking temperature, atmosphere, flowers, etc. This will allow you to get ideas for my later points!
  3. Get your theme on! – Whether it is just the colors or a whole theme to your wedding, try to pick theme of sorts to tie your wedding together. I’ve seen rainbow, country, classic, succulent, the list honestly goes on – There is no right or wrong theme to your wonderful day!
  4. Choose your Wedding Party – Honestly, I had a blast with this when we got engaged. This is your time to have some fun and ask friend/family to be a special part of your big day! Don’t stress over this though – You have in your wedding party who you want
  5. Pick a Venue – This is probably one of the most key items on this list. Why might you ask? Isn’t the date the biggest item on the list? My answer to that is no, the venue is. Above we picked a 3-month span that you wanted your wedding held in Right? So let’s find a venue now and see the open dates they have! This takes the stress around planning on a certain date and not booking the venue you want.
  6. Choose your Date – Now that you’ve seen what the venue has for openings, let’s choose that date. Of course if there is a special day in your mind that you want to plan around – by all means — DO IT! Again, there is no right or wrong order here.
  7. Book your photographer – Spots fill it VERY quickly! You want to get on booking your photographer ASAP! Check out my page on our Wedding and Videography packages to book with me! https://jpalinphotography.com/pricing/wedding-packages/ and https://jpalinphotography.com/pricing/videography/
  8. Let’s talk FOOD – Whether you choose a caterer or an old fashion family BBQ, it is always a good idea to start planning your food for not only your wedding day but wedding weekend.
  9. Save the Dates – Since you’ve booked your photographer (hopefully with me because let’s face it — We’ll have fun!), get an engagement session in so you can send out your save the dates. Save the dates usually go out (roughly) 6 months before your big day or at the very latest 3 months. You want to be sure to give your guests enough time to plan travel and to take time off of work.
  10. Invites – Get those invites out! Invites at the very latest should go out a month before your wedding day. Again, have fun with these and don’t stress! I’ve seen everything from an email invite to quite the elaborate ones! Don’t forget that RSVP card in there though! That helps to give you an idea of seating and how much food is needed.

*BONUS* Decorations – One of the reasons I had you pick a theme so early is so you could watch for your colors/themed items to go on sale! Weddings are expensive enough, try to save money where you can! Check back later on, and I’ll have a blog on some of the best deals you can find and where to find them for you day!

I hope you enjoyed my Top 10 Things You can do When You Get Engaged! Most importantly (and I think I said it probably a few too many times above) have fun and enjoy this time!

Family Sessions

jpalinphotography

What a blast the Family sessions were with these GORGEOUS Fall colors! Don’t fret if you didn’t get a chance to book though. Winter is almost here and that beautiful blanket of snow makes for some fantastic family portraits.

Why should you book a family session. I can’t tell you how many times a member of the families I book with come up to me and say, “Jauna, you never get these moments back! Thank you for capturing our family”. They are right, and not to get too sappy, but you don’t get those moments back. Capture them, cherish them, and print them!!

We have a digital picture frame that we load all of our family pictures to in order to enjoy those moments year round! I also make specialized prints for the holiday season to hang and enjoy!

So, book now and capture those memories for years to come! I try to be as flexible as possible because let’s face it — Life is busy 🙂

July Fun

jpalinphotography

We have been having a ton of fun around here — Flowers ae booming, Senior sessions are in full swing, and adventures have been plenty — but unfortunately fire season is upon us!

Those pesky fires make for some poor air quality but on the flips side, some great pictures! Just because there isn’t clear blue skies. This doesn’t mean we can’t still have fun! Some of my most favorite pictures come from this time of year — The colors in the sky can be mesmerizing. We do take precautions and watch for air quality alerts and stay inside the studio if need be.

For this month though, we have been taking some adventures and traveling A LOT! It has been a lot of fun but to quote Dorothy — There is no place like home! Even the dogs enjoy exploring but crash when they get home.

Just as a reminder, the 2021 Wedding season is pretty well booked (reach out though — We still have some open spots), but we are booking into 2022 already! Look at the Pricing tab to see the packages I offer plus the services included. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed!

Sessions — What to Expect?!

jpalinphotography

First, you should check out the Tips tab. There’s great information to guide you through your session!

Honestly, I really enjoy having fun and not having “staged” poses . I might ask you to do something that sounds crazy but I promise — It will look amazing!

If you need help with outfits/styles/coordination, honestly send me a message! I would be more than happy to help you out and take some stress off your hands.

Which brings me to my next thought – Please don’t stress!! Photo shoots are supposed to be fun and carefree 🙂 The camera can be intimidating, but it’s an inanimate object – It won’t bite and the only thing it will do is make a click and capture a moment in time 🙂

Your session will range from 1-2ish hours. I have found much longer and we both start to get tired. Any shorter and the relaxing in front of the camera doesn’t happen.

I snap away to capture all the moments and you’ll get all the pictures on a drive. I choose a subset to edit (if need be). I honestly don’t like a lot of editing with my pictures because I don’t want your pictures to look “fake”. My goal is to capture your moments in time and not change those memories!

Last but not least, price…… Prices range from $149 – $199 or possibly less if I have a sale. Currently, I have the Senior Session sale going with 50% off for 2022 graduating seniors 🙂 I typically try to have sales going or other fun events going monthly! The best place to see if I have a sale or event would be Facebook! Go like and follow my Facebook page in order to stay up to date on the latest and greatest offerings!